How Engaged Are You at Work?
Energy, meaning and losing track of time
Work engagement is the state psychologists place at the opposite end from burnout: coming to work with energy, finding it worth doing, and getting absorbed enough to forget the clock. It is not the same as working long hours or loving your employer. This test scores the three parts identified by a research group at Utrecht University, which do not always rise and fall together.
Before you start There are no right answers. Pick what is usually true for you, not what sounds best.
Answer about your current main work - a paid job, your studies, or whatever takes up most of your week - over the last few months.
What it measures
The three components of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale: vigour, dedication and absorption. It measures the positive side of your relationship with work; the burnout test on this site measures the exhausted, cynical side, and the workplace fit test looks at what kind of environment suits you.
Based on: Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (Schaufeli, Salanova, González-Romá & Bakker, 2002; short version by Schaufeli, Bakker & Salanova, 2006)
Possible results
Vigour
The energy and stamina you bring to your work.
Dedication
How meaningful, inspiring and worth your pride your work feels.
Absorption
How fully you get immersed in your work while doing it.
Common questions
Is work engagement just the opposite of burnout?
Not quite. The researchers behind the scale described engagement as the positive opposite of burnout, but they measured the two separately and found them negatively related rather than mirror images. You can be neither burnt out nor engaged - simply getting by - and the burnout test on this site measures the other side.
Is being highly engaged the same as being a workaholic?
No. Engaged people work hard because the work is enjoyable; workaholics work hard because they feel compelled to and cannot stop. A 2008 study by Schaufeli, Taris and van Rhenen found the two to be distinct, with workaholism relating to employees' health and wellbeing in a more complicated way than either burnout or engagement.
Can a job make me more engaged?
Yes, often more than personality can. Engagement tends to rise with job resources - support from colleagues, useful feedback, autonomy, chances to learn - and to fall when demands run far ahead of them. If your scores are low, look at the job before you look at yourself.
Sources
- Schaufeli, W. B., Salanova, M., González-Romá, V., & Bakker, A. B. (2002). The measurement of engagement and burnout: A two sample confirmatory factor analytic approach. Journal of Happiness Studies. doi:10.1023/A:1015630930326
- Schaufeli, W. B., Bakker, A. B., & Salanova, M. (2006). The measurement of work engagement with a short questionnaire: A cross-national study. Educational and Psychological Measurement. doi:10.1177/0013164405282471
- Schaufeli, W. B., Taris, T. W., & van Rhenen, W. (2008). Workaholism, burnout, and work engagement: Three of a kind or three different kinds of employee well-being?. Applied Psychology. doi:10.1111/j.1464-0597.2007.00285.x
An honest note The questions are Quinthea's own wording adapted from the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, so scores are not comparable with its published norms. The three parts are strongly correlated with each other. Engagement also depends heavily on the job itself, not only on you. This is not a burnout or health measure: if you have felt exhausted for weeks, talk to a doctor or an occupational health service.
Try one of these next
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Is Your Work a Job, a Career or a Calling?
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Do You Work Hard, or Can You Not Stop?
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